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170 which he had spoken, and they indulged over-freely after their enforced abstinence, the increased lethargy which would follow the brief period of exhilaration might permit Odell to make a break for liberty; but first he must find Miller, cut his bonds, and aid his escape.

If there were only some way in which he could get a message to his subordinate! While the sun sank behind the horizon and dusk settled into the dreary room the detective lay cudgeling his brains. His previous effort when he had raised himself to look about him had made his head throb violently and showed him how weak and dizzy he still was after the blow which had been dealt him.

Nevertheless, it had profited him somewhat. He knew that he must be confined in a private boathouse on some body of water broader than any nearby lake or river; and since for obvious reasons he could not have been removed far from the city, he conjectured that the boathouse was situated somewhere on the Connecticut shore of the Sound.

Beyond the possibility of escape he did not trouble himself about the means of getting back to the city. He would not have known whether one day or several had elapsed since he was struck down had it not been for Tony's fortuitous remark about having received the package from Volkert the night before; but the thought of even a day lost in his investigation drove Odell almost to the verge of desperation.

Captain Lewis would understand, of course, that something had happened to him; but would he keep the case open for him until he should be found, or would he assign another detective to it and thereby deprive Odell of the opportunity for which he had waited so long? Suppose the men whom